Stack rectangles in tikz

Question

I want to stack round rectangles in LaTeX like in this example.

How is this achievable? (I tried the towers of hanoi, but it did not fit well)

What is the use case? Do you want to write something into these rectangles? In which context do you want to use it? Also, please try to come up with some code. This makes it much easier to help, since it makes a bit more clear what you want to achieve. If you tried something, you should post it and specify where you got stuck. — Jasper Habicht, Mar 05 '24 at 13:42
No, I do not want to write something in the rectangle, like in the image! — herminato, Mar 05 '24 at 13:44
Somewhat related: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/273037/expandable-quick-sort-array-macro — John Kormylo, Mar 05 '24 at 14:07

Sandy G · Answer 1 · 2024-03-05T18:32:22.463

You can use the positioning library.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\tikzset{myrect/.style={fill=gray!50, rounded corners, inner sep=0pt, minimum height=5mm, minimum width=#1}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[xscale=.6, transform shape, node distance=0pt]
\draw(0,0)--coordinate(A)(8,0);
\nodeabove=of A, myrect=5cm{};
\nodeabove=of B, myrect=7cm{};
\nodeabove=of C, myrect=2cm{};
\nodeabove=of D, myrect=6cm{};
\nodeabove=of E, myrect=3cm{};
\nodeabove=of F, myrect=4cm{};
\end{tikzpicture}
\hspace{1cm}
\begin{tikzpicture}[xscale=.6, transform shape, node distance=0pt]
\draw(0,0)--coordinate(A)(8,0);
\nodeabove=of A, myrect=7cm{};
\nodeabove=of B, myrect=6cm{};
\nodeabove=of C, myrect=5cm{};
\nodeabove=of D, myrect=4cm{};
\nodeabove=of E, myrect=3cm{};
\nodeabove=of F, myrect=2cm{};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

or if you prefer you could put this into a macro.

Usage is \stack{<bottom center coordinate>}{<stack sequence>}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\tikzset{myrect/.style={fill=gray!50, rounded corners, inner sep=0pt, minimum height=5mm, minimum width=#1}}
\newcommand{\stack}[2]{\coordinate(stack1) at (#1);\foreach \n[count=\k, evaluate=\k as \j using int(\k+1)] in {#2}{\nodeabove=of stack\k, myrect=\n cm{};}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[xscale=.6, transform shape, node distance=0pt]
\draw(0,0)--coordinate(A)(8,0);
\stack{A}{5,7,2,6,3,4}
\draw(9,0)--coordinate(B)(17,0);
\stack{B}{7,6,5,4,3,2}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 05 '24 at 15:49

A funny implementation using the l3draw package allowing for alternative and random sorting as well as for using color lists:

\documentclass[border=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{l3draw}
\ExplSyntaxOn
\fp_new:N \l_rectstack_base_width_fp
\int_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_count_int
\fp_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_height_fp
\fp_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_sep_fp
\fp_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_min_width_fp
\fp_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_max_width_fp
\dim_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_corner_radius_dim
\clist_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_colors_clist
\clist_new:N \l_rectstack_rect_order_clist
\bool_new:N \l_diststack_random_order_bool
\int_new:N \l__rectstack_rect_color_count_int
\int_new:N \l__rectstack_current_rect_int
\fp_new:N \l__rectstack_current_rect_width_fp
\fp_new:N \l__rectstack_current_rect_ypos_fp
\seq_new:N \l__rectstack_rect_order_seq
\cs_generate_variant:Nn \int_set:Nn { Ne }
\keys_define:nn { rectstack } {
    base ~ width           .fp_set:N    = \l_rectstack_base_width_fp ,
    base ~ width           .initial:n   = { 6cm } ,
    rect ~ count           .int_set:N   = \l_rectstack_rect_count_int ,
    rect ~ count           .initial:n   = { 1 } ,
    rect ~ height          .fp_set:N    = \l_rectstack_rect_height_fp ,
    rect ~ height          .initial:n   = { 0.5cm } ,
    rect ~ sep             .fp_set:N    = \l_rectstack_rect_sep_fp ,
    rect ~ sep             .initial:n   = { 2pt } ,
    rect ~ min ~ width     .fp_set:N    = \l_rectstack_rect_min_width_fp ,
    rect ~ min ~ width     .initial:n   = { 1cm } ,
    rect ~ max ~ width     .fp_set:N    = \l_rectstack_rect_max_width_fp ,
    rect ~ max ~ width     .initial:n   = { 5cm } ,
    rect ~ corner ~ radius .dim_set:N   = \l_rectstack_rect_corner_radius_dim ,
    rect ~ corner ~ radius .initial:n   = { 3pt } ,
    rect ~ colors          .code:n      = {
        \clist_set:Nn \l_rectstack_rect_colors_clist {#1}
        \int_set:Ne \l__rectstack_rect_color_count_int { 
            \clist_count:N \l_rectstack_rect_colors_clist 
        }
    } ,
    rect ~ colors          .initial:n   = { black!25 },
    order                  .clist_set:N = \l_diststack_rect_order_clist , 
    random                 .bool_set:N  = \l_diststack_random_order_bool ,
    random                 .default:n   = { true }
}
\cs_generate_variant:Nn \clist_item:Nn { Ne }
\NewDocumentCommand{\drawrectstack}{ O{} }{
    \keys_set:nn { rectstack } { #1 }
\bool_if:NT \l_diststack_random_order_bool {
    \seq_clear:N \l__rectstack_rect_order_seq
    \int_step_inline:nn { \l_rectstack_rect_count_int } {
        \seq_put_right:Nn \l__rectstack_rect_order_seq { ##1 }
    }
    \seq_shuffle:N \l__rectstack_rect_order_seq
    \clist_set_from_seq:NN \l_diststack_rect_order_clist \l__rectstack_rect_order_seq
} 

\draw_begin:

\draw_path_moveto:n { -0.5 * \l_rectstack_base_width_fp , 0cm }
\draw_path_lineto:n { 0.5 * \l_rectstack_base_width_fp , 0cm }
\draw_path_use_clear:n { stroke }

\draw_path_corner_arc:nn 
    { \l_rectstack_rect_corner_radius_dim } 
    { \l_rectstack_rect_corner_radius_dim }
\int_step_inline:nn { \l_rectstack_rect_count_int } {
    \clist_if_empty:NTF \l_diststack_rect_order_clist { 
        \int_set:Nn \l__rectstack_current_rect_int { ##1 }
    } { 
        \int_set:Ne \l__rectstack_current_rect_int { 
            \clist_item:Nn \l_diststack_rect_order_clist { ##1 }
        }
    }
    \fp_set:Nn \l__rectstack_current_rect_width_fp { 
        \l_rectstack_rect_max_width_fp - 
        ( \l_rectstack_rect_max_width_fp - \l_rectstack_rect_min_width_fp ) / 
        ( \l_rectstack_rect_count_int - 1 ) * ( \l__rectstack_current_rect_int - 1 ) 
    }
    \fp_set:Nn \l__rectstack_current_rect_ypos_fp { 
        ( ##1 - 1 ) * \l_rectstack_rect_height_fp + ##1 * \l_rectstack_rect_sep_fp 
    }
    \exp_args:Ne \color_fill:n { \clist_item:Ne \l_rectstack_rect_colors_clist {
        \int_mod:nn { ##1 - 1 } { \l__rectstack_rect_color_count_int } + 1 } 
    }
    \draw_path_rectangle_corners:nn 
        { -0.5 * \l__rectstack_current_rect_width_fp , 
            \l__rectstack_current_rect_ypos_fp }
        { 0.5 * \l__rectstack_current_rect_width_fp , 
            \l__rectstack_current_rect_ypos_fp + \l_rectstack_rect_height_fp }
    \draw_path_use_clear:n { fill }
}
\draw_end:

}
\ExplSyntaxOff
\begin{document}
\drawrectstack[rect count=7]
\drawrectstack[rect count=5, random, rect colors={cyan}]
\drawrectstack[rect count=6, order={4,1,2,6,5,3}, rect colors={red!20, red, blue, green}]
\end{document}

Stack rectangles in tikz

2 Answers2